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Tom Billington recently spent several days in Santa Fe at the invitation of the TAOS Institute. TAOS is an international community of scholars and practitioners concerned with the social processes essential for the construction of reason, knowledge, and human value, developing and exploring the ways in which scholarly research can enrich professional practices, and in which practices can stimulate scholarly inquiry http://www.taosinstitute.net/.

The orientation of TAOS is towards collaborative methods such as social constructionist research and approaches to research and professional practice which include narrative, relational leading and appreciative inquiry. Professor Ken Gergen (Swarthmore College, US) was the principal speaker but for the majority of time Tom was networking with scholars and practitioners at the interface of mental health, counseling, family therapy, organizational change, education, psychology, community building and medicine.
During the visit the foundations were laid for future collaborations and we hope to have leading figures from TAOS visiting CEPCH over the next few years. Should anyone (not necessarily members of CEPCH) be interested in potential TAOS collaborations please contact Tom at t.billington@sheffield.ac.uk11th. May 2015

Critical Educational Psychology Centre for the Human (CEPCH)Tom Billington recently enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Australia and New Zealand which was sponsored by the Australian Educational Research Association and the New Zealand Psychological Society respectively.

His paper Why educational (school) psychologists should engage with a critical neuroscience was presented as part of a Seminar Series (Righting the Ship: Psychology’s Passage Through Education) together with Associate Professor Lise Bird (University of Waikato, NZ) and Dr. Tim Corcoran (Victoria University, Melbourne). Special thanks are due to Tim for his organization and not least for the scholarly approach he brings to consideration of professional practice.

Day-long events were held at the University of Wellington, Victoria University (Melbourne), Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane) and at the State Education Offices in Perth. Audiences included academics, students and a range of school-based practitioners (e.g. school counselors and guidance officers, psychologists, social workers and service managers).

The days were well-attended with some people having flown in hundreds of miles (literally) and were marked by lively debates and the promise of further exchanges. The collaborations were part of our continuing strategy at CEPCH to develop an international network of critical educational psychologists.